The Adventures of Tara Sanford
by TaraSanford
Summary: Tara finds herself late to archery practice with her friend, where they recieve two letters... Stay tuned for more updates! R+R!


Authors Note: Yes, I'm a crazy girl. I wanted to write my very first Harry Potter fan fiction. And it just so happens to be staring. Me! So, please read this, and please review! -Tara  
  
Meet Tara Sanford, her sister Michelle "Pompom", her mother and father, and her best friend, Kate.  
  
Tara grumbled, carefully balancing her schoolbooks and her binders on her knee, while unlocking her locker. Kate shut the door to her own locker next to her. "Archery lessons, at 4. Don't forget! And I'll see you there!" Tara nodded quickly, attempting to shove all her books in her locker at once. "Try stacking them four eyes." Tara whirled around. Her sister Michelle stood, sneering at her. Three or four other of Michelle's cheerleader friends giggled. Tara glared. "I don't even wear glasses, airhead. Oh, and your shoelace is untied." She turned back to her locker, trying to suppress a fit of giggles. "Whatever." Michelle and her friends left. Tara shook her head, walking slowly to her next class.  
  
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The end of Tara's most hated class, math, drew to a close, she had already begun to put her things away. "Miss Sanford, I'll have to ask you to stay a while after class." her teacher Mr. Lawrence said after the bell rang. She sank into her seat, it was already 3:30, and the walk to where she and Kate practiced archery was at least a 30 minute run. "Yes?" she asked, after setting her backpack back down. "It's nothing bad, don't worry. I just wanted to tell you that I am proud of you. Your test scores are aced, and you always turn your homework in on time (A/N: Hey. I'm exaggerating here!). You can go now." Tara smiled. "Thanks!" and she ran out into the hallway. Only a few minutes to get to the place she and Kate stashed their bows and arrows before school. It looked like Kate had just left. "Oh good" she breathed, grabbing them, and started running to the grassy meadow, hoping to catch up with her.  
  
Tara however did not meet up with Kate until she had reached the meadow. "Hey! You're late!" Kate said, waving from down the hill, Tara could tell she was grinning, and began to slip- slide down the slightly muddy hill. "I know. Mr. Lawrence surprised me! Congratulated me on my homework." she panted, bending slightly, her hands resting on her knees. "Really?" Kate asked, looking confused as she set up the targets. "Yeah. I have to wonder now, why I hate math so much." Tara sighed, lacing up the arm brace (she had found that she really needed it, after returning home on numerous occasions with a bruised and bleeding arm from where the bowstring kept hitting her). "Maybe because its so hard?" Kate giggled, putting on her arm brace as well. Tara shrugged and nodded. "That would be it I suppose." She notched an arrow, and drew. "Shoot together?" she asked, as Kate also notched her own arrow. "Sure why not?" **TWANG** The arrows flew towards the targets. Kate squealed with delight, Tara groaned. Kate's arrow had hit the bull's eye, and Tara's arrow lay at the ground about a foot away from her feet. Kate frowned sympathetically. "Well you're doing better.. You can draw the string now." Tara looked at her friend shaking her head. "Shut up." she said jokingly. "Try again!" Kate said, getting another arrow out of her quiver and notching it. Tara did the same. It was just after Kate fired, that Tara had noticed a rather large bird, no a rather large owl flying closer and closer. Without thinking she released the string and the arrow went flying. The two girls screamed and ran forward.  
  
"Do you think its dead?" Tara asked, dropping to her knees peering at the owl. "Nah. Just got its wing. Good shot though." Kate said, breaking off the arrow, and ripping off a piece of her over shirt without a second thought. 'Typical,' Tara thought, looking away, blood had always kinda made her uneasy. 'Doing good with out even thinking about it.' when Tara looked back, she blinked at her friend, who was staring at an envelope, white-faced, holding out her hand. "They have our names on them, Tara." her friend murmured, shoving the envelope into her grasp. Tara blinked, and numbly tore it open. Her heart skipped a beat, a sudden chill, a wave of excitement went up her spine. "These are." Kate cut her off "Fake, bogus. Some one is pulling a nasty trick on us." Tara sighed, the light went off, and she shrugged. That was another thing Kate was quick too, being down to earth. "Probably, but how can you know?" she offered hopefully. Kate sighed. "Probably Michelle." Tara smirked. "She can hardly read more then 20 words, let alone, read the Harry Potter books." Kate stood, helping the owl perch on her almost expertly held out arm. "Even so, it was probably one of her friends. I still think this was a good shot though." Tara grinned at her friend. "Maybe, but I feel sorry for shooting it anyway." Almost twenty minutes later the owl flew off, and the girls went on giggling and practicing archery.  
  
Tara yelped with delight, her arrow struck the target in the bull's eye. "Finally!" her face shone. "Oh! 'Grats!" Kate hugged her. "Although, short lived. We have to start getting back for dinner." Kate frowned. Tara grumbled. "That sucks. Oh. What about the letters?" Kate let out a deep breath and shook her head. "Well why not? I mean, it's not like our parents." Tara dropped off. "That's right Tara, our parents. Let's just go home and eat ok?" Tara nodded, picking up her things reluctantly. Kate was supposed to come over for dinner tonight, with any luck, Tara would convince Kate to call her parents and ask to stay overnight.  
  
"Yay! I can!" Kate said excitedly, hanging up the phone. Tara smiled and they went to the bathroom to wash their hands for dinner. "Hey. Uh. They were kinda odd though Tara, like they expected me to be gone. For a really long time." Kate said at last. Tara looked confused. "Hmm. Seems odd." They went to Tara's room. Kate and Tara both made an identical scream. Two trunks lay at the foot of Tara's bed. "Uh-oh. Kate these are ours." Tara said, standing up, after examining the names embossed in gold. "The owls too?" Kate asked. Tara nodded. "Then we have to go." Kate said what Tara was thinking.  
  
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A/N: All the characters are mine so far. Hogwarts belongs to JKR, and the plot is mine as well, unless for some reason your story bears a remarkable resemblance to this, and then I am terribly sorry, but it was just coincidence. Please r+r, update will probably come soon, and I'm sorry for the shortness of the prologue. You can expect the chapters to be short too though :S Oh well. Loves, hugs and sour candy for fun! PLEASE review! 


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